The Fifth Estate

Emerging from Stamford, Connecticut, the Fifth Estate first attracted notice through their lighthearted reworking of "Ding Dong! The Witch is Dead," a 1967 chart success that capped the band’s shift from garage rock origins toward broader experiments in folk-rock and baroque psychedelia. Their history traces to 1963, when teenage keyboardist Wayne Wadhams began holding basement jam sessions that drew together guitarists Rick Engler and Bill Shute, bassist Doug Ferrara, and drummer Ken Evans. The players initially called themselves the Decadants, soon shortened the name to the Demen, and impressed manager Kevin Gavin during an all-ages performance that highlighted both their material and stage command. Gavin secured a 1964 Veep Records contract that prompted yet another name adjustment, this time to the more straightforward D-Men; two Veep singles and one for Kapp received regional airplay without breaking nationally. While touring the Midwest the group encountered the underground paper The Fifth Estate, adopted its title for its provocative undertone, and, after adding vocalist Chuck LeGros, signed with Red Bird Records in 1965 under the new moniker. Red Bird folded shortly after issuing "Love Is All a Game," and LeGros departed before the next deal materialized.

Lyricist Don Askew, who had already co-written material with Wadhams that the Brothers Four and Reparata & the Delrons recorded, once remarked that any composition could succeed with the proper studio gloss; the Fifth Estate accepted the dare by crafting an ornate baroque-pop version of "Ding Dong! The Witch is Dead," the standard from the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz. Jubilee Records responded by offering a contract, and the single proved Askew correct in 1967 by climbing to number 11 on Billboard’s Hot 100. Steady touring and recording followed for two more years, yet "Ding Dong!" remained their sole Top 40 entry. Relations with Jubilee soured when the label issued two further singles under the band’s name that were actually cut by session players without the group’s involvement. By late 1970 the Fifth Estate had disbanded and Jubilee had ceased operations.

Individual members stayed active in music and reconvened in later decades, issuing the Shel Talmy-co-produced albums Time Tunnel in 2011 and Take the Fifth in 2014; keyboardist and guitarist Bob Klein joined after Wayne Wadhams’s death in 2008. Fuel 2000 Records compiled their earlier work on Anthology, Vol. 1: The Witch Is Dead in 2012.